


You’re My Best Friend

by BlueMoon2002



Category: Kirby (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Ponyo Fusion, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, General cutesy elements that come from children’s movies and Kirby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27677065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueMoon2002/pseuds/BlueMoon2002
Summary: Gooey didn’t care about the name they’d had before, or the life they’d led, for that matter. Gooey was Gooey, and nothing was going to stop them from being with their best friend.(Or: Ponyo, but retold with Kirby and Gooey. Contains a retelling of the movie’s plot, with some divergences to fit Kirby canon)
Relationships: Kirby & Gooey
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	1. A Black Comet

**Author's Note:**

> Although I usually head canon Kirby as a quiet boi who can’t speak a lick of English, I’ll be having him doing so throughout this fic. Also, I may or may not be taking liberties with how Zero and the Dark Matter work. I’ve never played (or watched) Kirby’s Dreamland 2 and 3.
> 
> Now, with all that being said, enjoy the fic! I love Kirby AND Ponyo, and I highly recommend the movie if you haven’t seen it!

The lair of the Dark Matter was an inky blot in the sea of stars. It was a mass of shadow-not even the nocturnal creatures that wandered between stars dared approach it. Contained within were the creatures of nightmares. They consumed light, and they didn’t care if they ate you, too.

It was ruled over by a being known as Zero to his creations. Though not the first of the Dark Matter, he was surely the most important, for he was the one who created the majority of his forces, and sent them across the stars to devour the light within worlds and plunge them into eternal darkness. And when his creations did not return...

Then he sometimes took matters into his own hands.

But he was not attacking a world at the moment. No, now he was overseeing a legion of newly created Dark Matter, the small beings slowly learning how to see and hear and think. Once they learned how to move, how to live, then they would learn how to fight. Then they would learn their purpose, and march upon the worlds.

Zero had no personal reason for wanting all of the universe to be shrouded in shadow. He was a being of darkness, and darkness loved to devour the light.

So focused was he on his newest creations that he didn’t notice when one slipped free of the shadowy fortress.

The Dark Matter in question was a very young one, perhaps a couple months of age. They hadn’t yet been trained to devour light and to destroy all that is good and pure. Though it hadn’t yet been truly acknowledged, the small being of darkness had been born with an unnatural amount of curiosity. This curiosity drove them to explore, to want to understand, although they weren’t very good at remembering, either.

Zero would have considered this a defect and perhaps even terminated the creation, but he was a very, very busy creator. He didn’t have time to search every single soldier for defects, though he did expect his armies of shadow to be perfect, ruthless, and cold.

The Dark Matter in question was none of those things. Perhaps it was good they had not yet been found out.

Today they had decided, on a whim, to do something very, very daring-leave the Hyper Zone, as they called their wandering black hole of a home, and travel into the stars to see the universe. Their curiosity begged them to leave this place, to see the world, to find people. Zero never would have approved, and neither would have the other Dark Matter. So, when they snuck away from their home, they went alone.

Thanks to the busyness of their creator, and the status quo that never would have expected a Dark Matter to simply leave the lair, no one noticed their absence. Not for a very, very long time.

But Zero, despite his lack of creator-ly love, did remember every single one of his creations.

And he always made sure every single one was where they were supposed to be.

He would notice, eventually.

But the small Dark Matter didn’t know that. They floated about the stars, lazily staring at the small dots of light around them, creating a map they could never comprehend. They stared at the universe with awe. They had never seen anything like this. Where all those stars worlds?

They loved watching the stars, and the comets, and the clusters that they made, but eventually the small Dark Matter began to grow weary from their traveling. They’d been gone for goodness knows how long, and even with no concrete plans of returning, they knew that the people back home would worry about them. Well, maybe “worry” wasn’t the correct word, but... they would be looking.

But the world was so beautiful, and they felt so sleepy...

Eventually, they found themselves closing their eye. They thought it would only be for a moment.

Then they were asleep, a small black orb floating lazily across the stars.

❧

“Kirby!”

Kirby woke from his nap with a few blinks, recognizing the voice of Meta Knight outside his house. He sat up on the bed, removing the cap, and looked out the window.

“Good morning, Meta Knight!”

“Good morning, Kirby. You said you wanted to ride with me to the castle?”

Kirby nodded enthusiastically. He knew well what today was-today, he was going to play with Rick and the others on the castle’s outskirts. He’d been waiting for this day for, well, days!

“Well, it’s getting to be time to go. I’ve got other things to do today,” Meta Knight said, before beginning the long walk to where Kirby could see the Halberd resting atop one of the distant hills. He hadn’t needed to land so far away, although Kirby supposed he didn’t want to startle him out of his dreams.

And oh, what dreams he’d had! He’d dreamt a comet had fallen onto Dreamland, and he and that comet had eaten lots of sweets and played many games!

Peering up at the bright blue sky, though, he didn’t see much chance of any comet falling from the ground. He was a little disappointed, as he loved making new friends, dreams or no. But sometimes, dreams could only stay that way.

So he got out of bed, and started getting ready for his play date.

❧

When the curious Dark Matter woke up again, the sky was no longer full of stars. In fact, they were floating along a soft spring breeze.

Their sole eye blinked, opening wide at the sight. They saw fluffy white clouds, and a big blue sky, and below them... hills of green. And the wind on their body felt so wonderful. They almost returned to their sleep, the breeze making them lazy, the warm sun making them drowsy.

The Hyper Zone had been nothing but cold. And here was its polar opposite, after hours of wandering!

They breathed out a sigh of contentment. Perhaps... perhaps they could even stay here forever. The Hyper Zone surely wouldn’t need them anymore, would they?

Naïve as they were, they knew, deep in their heart (they were sure they had one, though the others seemed to believe otherwise) that their fellow Dark Matter would not like these rolling hills and soft fluffy clouds. But this place was so wonderful! They wanted to see everything!

Then the warm breeze suddenly became sharp and cold. They opened their eye and blinked into the growing darkness around them.

They heard a loud boom that startled them from their lazy reverie. They darted left and right, wondering where the danger was, why the fluffy white clouds now looked scary and grey.

A bunch of punk creatures with two eyes and translucent wings burst from the clouds, flying past them in a frenzy. A few even smacked into them, and they made small noises of fear and pain. They tumbled about, their body being tossed around by the unforgiving gale.

Finally, they righted themselves, but when they looked ahead...

They saw a ginormous white cloud, with golden spikes coming from within the pillowy body. A single eye stared down at them, not recognizing their species, but uncaring. Prey was prey, after all.

Before the poor Dark Matter could even try to react, to attack or plead, they were struck with a vicious bolt of lightning.

They couldn’t even cry out in pain, so shocked and hurt were they. They couldn’t remember how to fly, and so they began to plummet from the horrible dark clouds. Another bolt of lightning raced by them, but they somehow avoided being struck twice. Even in their agonized state, they managed to spin their body, and eventually they were falling, falling, falling.


	2. The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The creature or person who fell from the sky looked very much like the monster who attacked the Rainbow Islands and possessed King Dedede. However, Kirby isn’t one to abandon anyone, and so he decided to help them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is starting to turn into a part retelling of Ponyo, part retelling of Kirby’s Dreamland 3...
> 
> Well, hope you enjoy it regardless! This fic should still follow the same plot as the movie.

Meta Knight was already waiting within the Halberd, and so Kirby was quick to brush his teeth and make sure he was clean and ready for the play date. He regretted not being able to eat more breakfast, but he didn’t want to keep his friends waiting for too long. So he quickly ate up some cereal and ran from the house.

He could have easily used the Warp Star, but he really, really wanted to ride with Meta Knight today. It was always a rare opportunity to do so, so when Meta Knight had offered, he’d been very quick to accept!

He loved all methods of flying. But today, he wanted to ride the Halberd, and so that was what he was going to do.

Bidding farewell to the house (and the butterflies that always gathered around it), he began to make his way to the waiting ship.

Then he saw something plummet from the sky.

With wide eyes, he watched as a comet of purest black fell from a gathering of grey clouds-Kracko, Kirby realized with a heavy helping of worry for whatever creature had been attacked. As the comet came closer and closer to hitting the earth, he ran as fast as his feet could carry him.

He wasn’t able to catch the falling comet, and he winced when he heard the boom of crashing and saw the dirt spray. When the dust cleared and Kirby could see again, the creature lay prone in a small crater, covered in dirt and unmoving.

Oh no! What if Kracko had killed this poor thing?

Frantic, Kirby raced back into his house and flung open the cabinet doors, digging through the various canisters and bags of food and refreshments until he found his supply of tomatoes, kept for emergencies. Delicious as they were, they also had great healing properties, at least when grown on Popstar’s soil, and were a big hit in hospitals across the land.

Tomato in hand, Kirby raced back to the crater where the creature still hadn’t moved.

“Excuse me, are you okay?” Kirby asked, his first words to the unconscious person. There wasn’t a response.

Not one to be deterred, he climbed into the hole and grabbed the creature’s body.

He jumped back, surprised at how cold their skin had felt. Almost as if it weren’t actually skin at all, but something darker.

He shook his head. It didn’t matter what this creature was or where they’d come from. They needed help!

He grabbed their body again, careful not to cause them anymore hurt as he rolled them over, trying to find a mouth. Eventually, unable to find one, he remembered how their body had felt-almost as if it were made of goo. Determined to heal them, he carefully placed the tomato atop the creature’s body.

His eyes went wide and he watched with awe as the tomato slowly sank into the goo-like body.

“Wow...” he exclaimed. Then he sat back and examined the creature as the tomato did its work.

Their appearance was familiar. A completely black, orb-like body, and smaller orange orbs on what may be their back... There was one crescent of a slit on the front. An eye, maybe?

His eyes went wide.

It looked like the monster that had possessed King Dedede a while back!

He jumped to his feet and wondered what to do. If this creature was anything like that monster, then perhaps he shouldn’t have been so quick to assist them. But of course he would have! Evil or no, he couldn’t leave anyone to die!

Besides, if the creature had been weak enough to be struck by Kracko’s lightning, perhaps they weren’t as huge a threat. However, he would have to keep an eye on them. Yes, that was what he would do.

When Kirby nodded this affirmation to himself, the eye slowly opened.

“You’re alive!” Kirby exclaimed in excitement. Though the creature didn’t move from their prone position, their eye found Kirby’s and stared at him in curiosity. It blinked slowly as they took him in, examining him from top to bottom.

It made Kirby feel a little strange, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, and so he let them look him over.

“Hello,” he said softly, careful not to startle the creature. “I’m Kirby.”

The creature didn’t say anything. Slowly, their eye closed, and did not open again.

Kirby’s heart started pounding from anxiety.

“Kirby!” Meta Knight yelled, flying across the sky at breakneck speed and landing beside him. “If you want that ride, you’re going to have to hurry up, I’ve already-”

He stopped when he noticed the unconscious creature and Kirby’s frightened face.

In all his excitement, he’d forgotten about what was to happen today! He hoped Rick and the others would forgive his apologies, but he just couldn’t leave the poor thing behind, not when they were hurt like this!

“Kirby,” Meta Knight said slowly, “what is that?”

Kirby shrugged. “I don’t know. They fell from the sky. I think Kracko hit them with his lightning.”

He checked the sky for any signs of Kracko, but the skies were once again clear. He hoped nothing else would fall victim to his brutal attacks.

“I gave him a tomato,” Kirby added when Meta Knight continued to be silent.

“Kirby,” he said, still slow and careful, “you do realize they looked similar to the monster that attacked the Rainbow Islands?”

Kirby nodded. “But... they got struck by Kracko’s lightning. I don’t think they’re as strong as the other one.”

“Still, I don’t know how well we can trust it.”

“Can I please keep an eye on it?” Kirby begged, giving Meta Knight the puppy dog eyes that almost always worked in convincing him to do something. “Please, please, please? If they turn out to be bad, I can get them off Popstar, but if not, can I please take care of them? Until they get better?”

Meta Knight looked plenty poised to argue, and Kirby was ready to either keep arguing about it or giving up and letting the knight deal with the creature, until he sighed. “Alright. I’ve already made myself late enough by promising to bring you to the castle. You can keep an eye on it while it is brought back to health.”

Kirby’s smile was bright as the sun, and he heard Meta Knight’s defeated sigh before he ordered Kirby to help him carry the creature onto the Halberd. Although their goo-like skin was still frightfully cold and Meta Knight seemed more than a little disturbed by the feel, neither said a word or gave much indication that anything was truly wrong as they carted the creature to the ship. Inside, the creature was placed inside the medbay with lots of questions from the crew that Meta Knight brushed off.

“They were struck by Kracko, and Kirby wanted to help them. That’s all I know,” he said again and again. He didn’t mention the creature’s resemblance to the monster from before, and Kirby was glad of it. He didn’t want to cause a panic, especially if the creature turned out harmless.

He remained in the medbay as the ship took the skies, watching for any sign of life from the creature. Another tomato had been fed, just in case, and though most of the dirt had been cleaned away and there were no signs of wounds, they didn’t stir.

They had just started flying towards the castle when that eye slowly opened again. This time, it was full of awareness, and it locked on Kirby and widened in recognition.

“Are you feeling okay now?” Kirby asked. Could the creature speak?

Slowly, it rose off the bed, hovering in the air inches above the sheets. It blinked and stared at its surroundings, spinning in a circle over the bed.

“You’re on the Halberd, in the medbay,” Kirby explained, in case the creature was unable to speak. “And, in case you forgot, I’m Kirby! I’m the one who saved you!”

The creature’s eye widened, and light seemed to fill that eye as the creature moved more excitedly. Kirby wanted to warn them not to waste too much energy, but he was quickly silenced when the creature excitedly started flying circles around him.

Kirby giggled. The creature halted at the sound and stared at him.

“Hello,” Kirby said, raising a paw and giving the creature a wave. They closed their eye in some indication of a smile, and spun around him again.

Kirby laughed, now. There was no way this creature was like the monster from before!

“I knew you were harmless!” He exclaimed.

The creature blinked. Perhaps a question?

“Oh, Meta Knight thought you might be mean because you look kind of like a scary monster that attacked us before,” he explained. “But I’m sure you’re not like that!”

The creature blinked, then slowly nodded in agreement.

Kirby smiled. “I knew it! C’mon, since you’re better, I wanna introduce you to Meta Knight!”

He would have offered to hold hands as they went, but considering the creature didn’t appear to have any, they were both content to simply be beside one another as they exited the bay and made their way to the bridge.


	3. Gooey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Considering his new friend doesn’t have a name (or, if they did, they forgot it), Kirby takes matters into his own hands and gives them a name of their own.

If Zero had had a mouth, he would have been scowling as the scouts returned from their search-without the missing Dark Matter.

When one of his younger creations was reported missing, Zero had been surprised. Never, in all his years of existence, has he allowed one of his units to vanish. Certain it was a mistake, he’d had the entire Hyper Zone searched from top to bottom.

Yet one of their numbers was simply gone. Vanished into the universe.

Then came the matter of figuring out _how_ the missing creation had come to be missing in the first place.

It never crossed Zero’s mind that one of his loyal creations, born to devour the light and to obey every order without question, would have simply chosen to leave the Hyper Zone. Even if all Dark Matter had some sense of free will about them, none of them had ever made such a choice. To simply leave without any sort of word, and especially of one's own accord... it had never been heard of

Zero knew one person who would certainly be angry towards not just the missing unit, but also him, for being foolish enough to lose them in the first place.

So when the scouts returned, without the missing Dark Matter in hand, he was in a very, very foul mood.

“Well?” He snapped at the Dark Matter before him. “Did you find them?”

One of the scouts floated forward.

“Master Zero,” they said softly. “We did, however...”

“What?”

The scout flinched. “They appear to have been wounded, then taken into captivity by the natives of the planet they crashed onto.”

Zero’s eye narrowed.

He was not one to lose his temper, something his creations were all very, very grateful for. But to have his own be _damaged_ , and then _taken_...

“Which planet?” He asked, enunciating every syllable. He had half a mind to destroy the scouts, but then their valuable information on the missing unit’s location would be lost. No, he’d take his anger out on the next planet he saw.

“The locals refer to it as Popstar,” said another scout.

Popstar? Why did he recognize that name?

Whatever. Who cared what the planet meant to him, or to the Dark Matter clan as a whole, in fact. What mattered was that he returned his lost creation home before this Popstar discovered who and what they were. The last thing they needed were noble warriors trying to get some ounce of glory by destroying them.

Even if watching _them_ be destroyed would have been entertaining to watch.

He sighed.

“Since you failed to attempt a rescue, I shall do so myself,” Zero declared. “This decision is final.”

Those words stopped the scouts from arguing. It also stopped them from saying much else as their master floated away from the audience chamber, exiting the Hyper Zone entirely and flying off into the stars, following the directions given to him by the scouts.

Oh, that Dark Matter would receive a very thorough examination once they were returned home. And then he would decide whether to let Popstar remain or not.

❧

The Dark Matter in question was very surprised by everything they beheld when they woke up. They remembered little from the encounter in the crater, but discovered the pink person who had saved them-Kirby-to be very pleasant indeed.

The place they now found themselves in-Kirby had called it the Halberd, and explained that it was a ship that could fly through the sky much like their own home-was also strange and new to behold. And the people! They tried their best to greet everyone they passed with a pleasant glance, as they had no mouth to express themselves with, and everyone responded with varying levels of shyness. Were they disturbed by them?

Kirby certainly didn’t seem disturbed by them. Even with the mention that they apparently looked like someone very mean and very scary who had attacked this place before.

They wondered who would ever attack a place like this. It was so peaceful and calm. They quite liked it.

It was certainly not the cold and dark Hyper Zone. They wanted to take as much in as they possibly could.

They were surprised to discover that they did not miss their home too much. They’d already fallen too much in love with the warmth of the sun and the softness of the sky.

Kirby led them down the hallway, talking to them excitedly as they went along. The curious Dark Matter quickly learned that Kirby was a very, very friendly person, and loved food, sleeping, and playing with all of his friends. They wondered who these friends were, and if they were as nice as Kirby was. They hoped so. They kind of wanted to meet them.

The hall eventually opened to reveal a wide chamber smaller than the room where they’d met their creator, during the first few days of their life. Inside were more people, pushing buttons and pulling levers, and standing at the wheel was someone of similar shape and size to Kirby, albeit wearing a blue cape and sharp-looking shoes.

“Meta Knight! Meta Knight!” Kirby exclaimed. “They’re awake!”

Meta Knight turned around to reveal armored shoulder pads, hands covered in gloves, and a mask that covered his entire front. “Oh, they are,” he said casually, although his eyes raked over them in a suspicious glance.

“And they’re really nice, too!” Kirby added. “They like to fly and make circles around me!”

“Oh, do they?”

“Yeah!”

The Dark Matter spun around Kirby, much like they’d done earlier. They tried to give Meta Knight a pleasant look.

Meta Knight blinked and stared at the wide, innocent eye. Finally, he sighed. “Well, I suppose they’re safe for now. But you’re going to have to explain them to Dedede so he doesn’t get scared.”

Kirby nodded enthusiastically. “Oh,” he said, turning to the creation, “this is my friend, Meta Knight! He’s kinda strict, but he’s really nice!”

“Thank you, Kirby.”

They nodded, floating over to Meta Knight and circling around him as well. Meta Knight blinked, surprised at the attention, but slowly, the tension in his body vanished.

“...Okay.”

“They’re saying hello, Meta Knight!”

They nodded. They were most certainly saying hello. Kirby and Meta Knight were so different from their fellow Dark Matter. Certainly not like their creator! They really liked them both, and wanted to meet the others on this planet!

What if this whole world was full of people like Kirby? Why, it must be so! Even with scary creatures like the one that struck them with lightning, if there were people like Kirby all over the world here... then this place must be wonderful.

They really, really liked this place!

Oh, they wished they were able to talk! But they hadn’t been able to learn how to make words yet, no matter how many times they got yelled at. They remembered one of the older ones saying they were abnormally slow in the learning field.

It had made them upset, and reinforced their decision to leave the Hyper Zone for a while. These people didn’t seem to judge them like back home.

Meta Knight slowly raised a hand in greeting.

“Hello there, errr...”

They blinked at him. He blinked in return.

“Oh, goodness! We don’t know your name!” Kirby exclaimed. “Can you tell us what it is?”

They shook their whole body in denial. They did have a name, but they didn’t like it very much, and besides, nobody ever really used it besides Zero, their creator. So they didn’t even know if they remembered it right.

Besides, they couldn’t talk.

“Oh...” Kirby frowned, and seemed to be trying hard to think.

“Kirby! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Someone exclaimed. The Dark Matter quickly spun around to assess the newcomer-they were orange and didn’t have a mouth, much like them. They were also wearing a cute little hat and carrying a platter of bright red fruits.

Their eye widened. They remembered, after falling out of the sky, that Kirby had given them a fruit much like that one. And it had been so good...!

“Sailor Dee!” Kirby exclaimed, walking to them. “Sorry, I forgot I asked you for more tomatoes.”

“Oh, it’s fine, so long as they’re... awake...” Sailor Dee stopped talking, their eyes widening at what was behind Kirby.

They had floated towards Sailor Dee, their eye locked upon the platter of tomatoes they were holding.

“Um, what are you doing?” Sailor Dee asked anxiously.

Behind them, Meta Knight gave Kirby a look that said they’d better not start attacking his crew.

Kirby shrugged.

Then, much to everyone’s surprise except their own, the Dark Matter floated up and planted themselves on the platter!

“Oh!” Sailor Dee cried out, trembling from worry. Kirby watched with awe as they absorbed all of the tomatoes into their body, closing their eye and making a chirping noise. Oh, they loved this fruit!

“Oh!” Kirby exclaimed. “You must _really_ like tomatoes!”

“Help meeeeee,” Sailor Dee cried, but all the Dark Matter did was float off the plate and start flying around the room in excitement. Kirby laughed.

“Meta Knight, they really love tomatoes!”

“Oh, do they,” Meta Knight deadpanned. Kirby laughed as they flew to their new friend and nuzzled him.

Oh, yes. They’d decided that this planet was very, very good indeed! It had lots of yummy fruits (they decided tomatoes were their favorite food and they needed to eat at least ten a day) and lots of fun people. Kirby was a very, very wonderful friend to have, and they hoped they could have lots of fun together on this planet.

“Oh! I think I have a name for you!”

They blinked. A new name...? Well, since they didn’t really remember their old one, they supposed they would very much like a new name! They nodded for Kirby to continue.

“If you don’t mind...” he said, “I would like to name you Gooey!”

Gooey...? Slowly, they blinked, pondering the name, spinning it around their head. Gooey Gooey Gooey... what had their old name even been? Certainly not something as fun-sounding as Gooey.

Their eye lit up and they nodded enthusiastically, spinning around Kirby again, making him laugh. They loved it when he laughed! Soon enough, the two of them were laughing (or, in Gooey’s case, making chirping noises that kept startling Sailor Dee as he slowly inched to Meta Knight’s side).

“Gooey!” Kirby exclaimed.

Yes, they were Gooey! Who cared what their old name was! Gooey was their name now, and they would answer to no other!

“Hello, Gooey,” Meta Knight said, genuinely casual. Gooey nuzzled him, too, much to his chagrin.

“They like you, Meta Knight!”

“I’m sure they do. Now if you don’t mind, I have a ship to drive...”

“Oh, sure!” Kirby tapped Gooey to get their attention. “I’ll show you around the ship! And then I’ll introduce you to my friends when we get to the castle!

Gooey nodded, eagerly following Kirby out of the room.


	4. New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirby introduces the animal friends to Gooey!

Though Gooey (a very clever name, Kirby believed wholeheartedly) couldn’t talk, they were very expressive. When he showed his new friend the view outside the window, a loud chirp of awe and wonder came from them as they pressed their entire body to the glass, their eye darting back and forth to catch as much of the world as they could as it flew under them.

Kirby laughed. It was like they were a little kid!

“There’s Wispy Woods!” Kirby exclaimed, pointing towards a thick cluster of trees. One of them had eyes and a mouth carved into the bark. At the moment the tree was trying to get a large animal to quit gnawing on his leaves. “He’s not very good with people, but he’s alright!”

Gooey made a noise as they passed by. Kirby was certain they were trying their best to convey a greeting.

“Oh! I can’t wait for you to meet Rick the others!” Kirby exclaimed.

Gooey finally tore their gaze from the window to give them a questioning glance.

“Oh, they’re my other friends!” Kirby exclaimed. “Rick’s a hamster, Kine’s a fish, Coo’s an owl...”

He quickly started to name his animal friends, with whom he’d been spending most of his time with lately. There was Rick, the witty hamster; Kine, the romantic fish; Coo, the wise owl; Nago, the carefree cat; ChuChu, the free-spirited octopus; and Pitch, the quiet bird. Rick, Kine, and Coo, Kirby had known forever. He’d only met Nago, ChuChu, and Pitch a few weeks back, but they were very nice people, and he loved playing with them!

“I think you’ll like them very much, Gooey!”

Gooey nodded. They looked very eager.

Kirby smiled when he saw their enthusiasm. They were excited by everything, it seemed. He wondered where they came from, and if that world was similar or different from Popstar. He also wondered if Gooey would have to return home.

He didn’t like the idea of Gooey leaving the planet, but if he got the chance to continue being his friend, then he would be happy. He really enjoyed Gooey’s company!

They were nothing like the monster who attacked the Rainbow Islands and possessed Dedede. He knew the king would probably be very scared of Gooey at first, but he knew he could convince him that Gooey was harmless.

His friends would certainly believe so. Rick and Kine and Coo might have doubts, but they were very forgiving people. They forgave the king, even before they found out he was being possessed.

“Oh, there it is!” Kirby exclaimed, pointing out a window.

Before them was the mountain atop which sat Dedede’s castle. Even from this high in the sky, Kirby could see the small orange dots of Waddle Dees wandering amongst the outer wall, sighting the ship and running off to inform the king of Meta Knight’s arrival.

Kirby wondered what exactly Meta Knight planned to do with the king. It could be as complex as a trip across the stars to complete an errand or as simple as having lunch. Kirby certainly hoped it was the latter. There were lots of other foods he wanted Gooey to try! If he loved tomatoes, perhaps he liked lots of other foods, too. There was so much for Gooey to discover, and Kirby could be the one to show them!

“See those orange dots? Those are Waddle Dees,” Kirby explained to Gooey. Gooey blinked, staring down at them all. They made a loud noise.

Kirby laughed. “They can’t hear you from up here.”

Gooey seemed to shrink in disappointment.

“But you’ll be able to say hello to them, later! We’re actually landing at the bottom of the mountain. There’s a lake down there, and that’s where we’ll be meeting the others!”

Gooey nodded.

“The Waddle Dees are all very nice people, too! There’s also the Waddle Doos, who aren’t as social as Waddle Dees, but they’ll only attack if they decide you’re mean. They usually give people a chance, though.

“Oh, and King Dedede himself is actually very nice, too! I used to not think so, because he stole all the food-even the tomatoes!”

Gooey made a cry of outrage.

“But I managed to show him why that wasn’t nice, and he quickly gave all the food back. And he showed everyone how good he was when he tried to stop Nightmare from taking over Dreamland!”

Gooey chirped in questioning. Kirby explained to Gooey the story behind Dedede, the Star Rod, and Nightmare as the Halberd slowly lowered itself into the grassy field reserved for such landings. The lake was meters away, and he could see his friends all sitting by the lake in waiting.

He hoped he wasn’t too late. He didn’t want to leave them waiting for two long.

“...and then the Star Rod was returned to the fountain, and we’ve all had sweet dreams since!” Kirby concluded as the Halberd hit the ground.

“Alright, Kirby,” Meta Knight said, leaving the bridge to find the two still plastered to the glass. “You two have fun. I’ve got things to do with the king.”

“Are you two having lunch? Please tell me you’re having lunch!” Kirby exclaimed.

“Yes, the king has invited me to lunch with Bandana Dee. You’re free to join us whenever you wish.”

“Yay!” Kirby exclaimed as Meta Knight exited the ship and took flight towards the castle. Kirby and Gooey quickly followed.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you about Bandana Dee!” Kirby exclaimed, and started babbling to him about Dedede’s best friend as Gooey discovered the feeling of grass and the breeze. He had to stop in the middle of his explanation, because he found Gooey’s excitement about grass too adorable and couldn’t stop giggling.

Gooey sprung up from the grass as Kirby kept laughing, and then flew to his side and gave him another affectionate nuzzle.

Kirby laughed even harder.

“Oy, Kirby! What’s got you laughing so hard!?” Demanded Rick from the lakeside, where...

Yes! They’d set up a picnic!

“Rick! I made a new friend!”

“Oh, did you?” Asked Nago as Kirby ran towards the group, Gooey following close behind.

Kirby nodded, then proceeded to greet all of his friends, including receiving a wet splash of a greeting from Kine.

“Hello, everybody!”

“Hello, Kirby!” Everyone chorused.

“Who’s that behind you?” Asked Pitch, who rested on top of Nago’s head.

“Yeah, Kirby, who’s that?” Rick asked.

Gooey chirped in greeting.

“Oh! Everybody, this is Gooey!” Kirby exclaimed, pointing his paws to them in a dramatic presentation. “They were attacked by Kracko, but Meta Knight and I managed to fix them up real good!”

“Oh, did you?” Asked ChuChu.

“Uh, Kirby,” warned Coo, “you do realize they look like-”

“Yes, yes, I know!” Kirby said, sitting down on the picnic blanket that had been set out. “But they’re very harmless, aren’t you, Gooey?”

Gooey nodded enthusiastically. They floated over to Rick and bumped their body against his.

“W-What?”

“They’re saying hello,” said Kine.

“Yes, they are!” agreed Kirby.

“Oh, uh, hello... Gooey, was it?”

Gooey nodded enthusiastically, then bumped Rick affectionately before moving over to Nago and bumping them as well. Nago snorted.

“They’re fun.”

Kirby nodded.

Gooey tried to give Pitch a bump, but the bird squawked and fell from his perch on Nago’s head.

“Ak! They’re all... they’re so...”

“Gooey?” Kirby suggested.

Coo fought a snicker.

Rick barked in laughter.

“Yeah!” Pitch exclaimed.

“Say hi to me!” Kine exclaimed, splashing his fins about. Gooey complied, squishing their body against the sunfish’s. They made a chirp of surprise when they felt the water on their skin.

“Oh, that’s water, Gooey!” Kirby exclaimed.

“Have you never seen a lake before?” Coo asked.

“Can we start eating?” Nago muttered. “I’m hungry.”

“In a minute,” Kirby said, approaching Gooey. “It’s safe to be in,” he told them.

They looked at the water warily.

Then submerged themselves entirely.

Kine yelped in surprise and went under as well.

“Have they never seen a lake before?” Rick asked.

Kirby nodded, hoping Gooey had the ability to breathe underwater. If not, then they’d hopefully know how to rise up.

“Where in the world are they from?” Coo asked.

“You’re sure they’re not related to the monster from Rainbow Islands?” Pitch asked.

Kirby nodded. “Even if they were... they aren’t like them at all!”

“I guess not,” said ChuChu. “But, Kirby, be careful, okay?”

“I will, I will! Meta Knight already warned me!”

“Goodness, imagine telling the king about this,” Coo sighed. “Don’t give him a panic attack now, okay?”

“I won’t!”

“I wanna see the king panic, though,” Nago said.

“What?” ChuChu asked.

“Nothing.”

“What is it with you and watching other people get uncomfortable?” Rick muttered.

Nago snorted. “Dedede’s expressions are funny.”

“They are pretty funny,” Kirby agreed.

“Goodness!” Kine exclaimed, practically leaping into the air alongside Gooey, who exploded from the lake and frantically shook their body, covering everyone in droplets. There were lots of complaints, but Kirby kept laughing.

“Gooey!” He scolded.

Gooey chirped in apology, nuzzling Kirby with their damp body.

“It’s fine. You’re already drying off!”

It was true. Gooey’s body was losing its dampness very quickly, as if their body was absorbing the water into themselves as they did the tomatoes.

Speaking of which...

“Are you hungry, Gooey?” He asked, pointing to the picnic basket holding all their food.

Gooey nodded very quickly.

Rick laughed.

“Goodness, you’re as hungry as Kirby, aren’t ya?”

“A rival for Kirby? Certainly not!” Pitch exclaimed.

“I wanna see an eating contest!” Nago exclaimed.

“Now, now,” said Coo. “I want to eat the food, too.”

Kirby nodded. “Of course you’re all going to get food!”

“You’re sure? You sure love eating, Kirby,” teased ChuChu.

“Of course!” Kirby exclaimed. “I’m not a food thief!”

Gooey blinked at the basket resting on the blanket as everyone took their seats.

“Oh, that’s the food basket, Gooey,” Kirby explained. “That’s where we put all the food!”

It was a big basket, as it should be (to accommodate enough food for seven people, now eight, including Gooey). Everyone made room for Gooey to sit beside Kirby, and Coo opened the basket.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Gooey,” said ChuChu. “I’m ChuChu!”

“Pretty sure they know who you are, ChuChu,” said Kine.

“I wanna make sure!”

“I’m Rick and I’m hungry!” Rick yelled at Coo.

“I know who you are,” said Coo pulling free at tomato.

Gooey practically squealed in excitement and threw themselves onto Coo’s wing. The owl shouted in surprise, and everyone shot to their feet as Gooey absorbed the tomato, taking the wing with it.

“Gooey! Get off of him!” Kirby exclaimed, grabbing at Gooey’s back.

Gooey noticed the bird’s distress and slowly removed themselves from the wing. It didn’t look to be too harmed...

“Goodness... it felt like the life was being sucked out of me,” exclaimed Coo.

“Goodness, Gooey, is that how you _eat_?” Asked Pitch.

“I’ve never seen someone just try to swallow Coo’s whole wing!” Said Kine.

“Do it again!” Nago exclaimed.

“N-No thank you,” protested Coo.

“Gooey, you can’t just eat people’s wings like that,” Kirby scolded, giving him a firm look. “You have to be more careful when you’re eating. And be sure to ask first.”

Gooey’s eye became wide with distress. They quickly flew to Coo and gave them a very aggressive nuzzle.

“Oh, it’s okay, I forgive you...”

Gooey made a worried chirp.

“Really, I do!”

“Just accept the forgiveness, Gooey,” said Rick, patting Gooey on the back. “Geez, you are gooey, aren’t ya?”

The reassurance seemed to make Gooey feel better, and he slipped back to Kirby’s side with a deeply apologetic look. Kirby smiled and patted Gooey on the head.

“It’s okay, Gooey. Everyone gets in trouble sometimes. Even me!”

“Yeah! I always get in trouble!” said Nago.

“You do it on purpose, though...” muttered Kine.

“Well,” said Coo, “with that out of the way, I’d like to actually get out all the meals, now?”

“Go on ahead, Coo!” Kirby exclaimed. Everyone else eagerly implored Coo, their stomachs rumbling with the need for food, and Coo finally conceded and began to bring out their picnic lunch.


	5. Clouds on the Horizon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gooey sees something they don’t like. Fleeing into the castle, they try not to make things worse.

Kirby properly introduced everyone to Gooey as the food was handed out, and by the time everyone had something to eat, Gooey had affectionately squished themselves against every friend (even the ones who had already received a squish). Kirby still had trouble keeping in his laughter whenever he saw Gooey react to the world around them.

They really were like a little kid! They were so, so cute!

After the tomato in Coo’s hand got snatched, everyone was a little more protective of their food. Kirby remained Gooey to sit and wait for their food to be given to them, and taught them other basic table manners as food was handed out.

“Goodness, they’re young, aren’t they?” Asked Nago once everyone had started eating.

Kirby nodded. “I don’t know where they came from.”

Gooey chirped, although Kirby couldn’t tell if it was in answer or something else.

“Can they talk?” ChuChu asked curiously.

Kirby and Gooey shook their heads.

“Oh.”

“They definitely understand us, though,” said Pitch. Gooey nodded.

“Sure wish you could talk, Gooey,” said Coo. “It would be nice to know where you came from.”

“You think you’ll have to go home?” Kine asked.

Kirby glanced at Gooey. He’d been wondering the same thing. After all, they had been struck by Kracko’s lightning before hitting the planet’s surface. Perhaps they weren’t supposed to be on this planet at all.

Did they have parents? Were they missing them?

Kirby blinked when Gooey shook their head again.

“Really?” Asked ChuChu. “Are you going to stay on Popstar?”

Gooey squished their body against Kirby’s again, and it seemed to be confirmation. Kirby laughed and gave his friend a hug.

“Well, if you really want to stay!” Kirby exclaimed. “You can stay at my house!”

“Do you have room?” Rick asked. “Your house is kinda small.”

“I’ve got a big basement!” Kirby exclaimed.

“What, for food?” Teased Nago.

“Not just for food! I’ve also got my Warp Star down there!”

“Why didn’t you take the Warp Star to here?” Coo asked.

“I wanted to ride with Meta Knight,” said Kirby. “I love the Halberd!”

“It is a nice ship...” mused Pitch. “That thing can fly as high as I can!”

“It sure can!” Agreed Kine. “Sometimes I wish I could fly.”

“Why?”

“Because sometimes swimming gets boring, ya know? But I do love lazily napping in the waves...” Kine sighed wistfully.

Kirby laughed. “Sometimes when I’m floating I get real sleepy, too.”

“I took a nap in midair once,” said Pitch. “Nago yelled at me to wake up before I hit the ground.”

“You still haven’t thanked me.”

“I was having a very lovely dream that you ruined!”

“I saved you from splatting!”

“At least I would have been dreaming about all the lovely worms I was eating!”

Kirby and the others laughed.

“Do you like flying, Gooey?” Coo asked.

Gooey nodded.

“They fly everywhere!” Kirby said. “They don’t have feet,” he noted, glancing at the bottom of their body. Yep, no feet, only those orange orbs.

Gooey chirped in confirmation.

“Kine doesn’t have feet, either!” Exclaimed ChuChu.

“I’m a fish! What would I need feet for!?”

“Walking,” said Rick.

“I don’t need to walk! I _swim_!”

“That’s a valid point,” Coo said in between bits of his sandwich.

“I like swimming, too!” Kirby exclaimed. “I have goggles and a floaty tube at home,” he told Gooey. They made their questioning chirp.”

“Goggles help me see underwater, and the floaty tube lets me float! It looks like this,” he made a circle, “with a big hole in the middle!”

Gooey hummed.

“Yeah, it does sound nice!”

“Can you understand him?” Pitch asked.

Kirby shrugged. “It’s easy to guess what they’re saying.”

Gooey nodded.

“Ya know, I think I like Gooey,” Rick decided.

“I already love them, keep up,” said Nago.

“Yeah! Can Gooey be a part of the friend group!?” ChuChu asked excitedly, giving Kirby big, pleading eyes.

“It depends on what Gooey wants,” Kirby said, glancing at them.

They made a loud, excited chirp, and nodded very eagerly.

“Welp, I guess that settles it!” Pitch exclaimed.

“You’re a friend now, Gooey,” Coo said in welcoming.

Gooey made happy noises (and squished everyone again).

When the squishing was completed, everyone laughed, including Gooey. Kirby was very, very happy.

Gooey was a wonderful new friend, and it seemed that they wanted to stay here rather than go home. Well, if they had no one to go back to, then Kirby would gladly let them stay with him! Popstar was always a home to people who needed one.

A noise like thunder boomed above them, and they all looked up to find a heavy cloud of darkness hovering over the land. Kirby’s heart sank. Was that Kracko?

“Oh, no, is that Kracko?” Complained Pitch.

“He better not ruin my lunch!” Rick exclaimed, eating at a faster speed.

“Should I dive?” Murmured Kine.

Kirby glanced at Gooey. They were staring at the cloud with a deep fear. He reached over to comfort them.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s just Kracko, he won’t hurt you if you’re down here.”

But those clouds seemed very, very dark. Darker than the thunder clouds Kracko loved to contain himself in when he left his lair...

Kirby thought he saw eyes peering at him from the clouds. Not just one, but many.

Gooey squealed in terror and fled.

“Gooey!” Kirby exclaimed. His friend was racing up the mountain.

“Oh, no, Gooey!” Nago exclaimed. Kirby sighed.

“I’ll go get them. You guys keep eating, okay?”

“What about that storm?” ChuChu asked fearfully.

“If it gets bad, we’ll pack up and leave,” said Coo. “Pitch and I fly, and I’d rather we not get caught in any bad gales.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” said Kirby. “It was very nice seeing you guys.”

“Tell Gooey it was very nice to meet them!” exclaimed Nago.

The others chorused their agreement on this statement as Kirby high-tailed it up the mountain.

❧

Oh no oh no oh no.

Gooey raced up the mountain as fast as they could. They needed to get away from that black cloud.

They’d known what it was the moment they laid eyes on it. It was a patrol. A patrol from the Hyper Zone.

Which meant they were coming for them.

They couldn’t leave. Not after meeting Kirby. Not after what they’d seen and learned.

If they went back to the Hyper Zone again, they would never come back here. And they couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing Kirby again.

So they fled up towards the large structure Kirby had called a castle earlier, praying that it would be big enough to hide inside.

They felt guilty for running so suddenly, but they couldn’t worry about that, now. Not when they might be taken away.

They couldn’t be taken away.

They loved Popstar. They’d only been here for a few hours and they already loved it more than the Hyper Zone.

The other Dark Matter wouldn’t understand. They would make them forget about this place, forget about Kirby.

And they couldn’t have that.

They couldn’t ever let that happen.

They found the wide gate leading into the castle and stopped, turning behind them. The cloud was moving a good distance away...

They hadn’t seen them.

Good.

They breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Gooey!”

Kirby!

Kirby ran up to them as fast as he could. “Gooey, what’s wrong? Do you not like storms?”

They shook their head.

“Then what is it?”

They didn’t know how to explain. What if they frightened Kirby?

They let out a noise of helplessness.

Kirby’s eyes went wide. “Are they... are they from your old home?”

They nodded. Then they shook their head as hard as they could.

“And you don’t want to go back?”

They nodded.

“You really... want to stay here?”

They nodded. They wanted to tell Kirby just how much they wanted-they wanted the picnics and the tomatoes and just Kirby’s company in general.

Kirby smiled gently. “Okay. I won’t let them find you, then.”

Gooey chirped in worry. Their creator was very, very scary. What if he attacked Kirby? What if... he hurt Kirby?

They couldn’t let that happen!

Out of fear for their friend, they nuzzled him again.

“It’s okay, Gooey! I’ve beaten scary monsters before!”

Gooey blinked.

“Really! I should tell you about them sometime!”

“Kirby?”

They both stopped and looked up at the top of the gate. There was a Waddle Dee (as Kirby had called them earlier) but this one was holding a spear and wearing a blue bandanna.

“Hi, Bandanna Dee!” Kirby exclaimed, waving a paw at them. Gooey chirped a greeting.

“Hi Kirby! Who’s your friend?”

“This is Gooey! They’re from another world, but they’ll be living here, now!”

“Really?”

Kirby nodded.

“Why do they look like the monster from the Rainbow Islands?”

“I think they might be the same race, but Gooey’s nothing like that scary monster!”

“You may need to explain that to Dedede,” warned Bandanna Dee. “He might think they’re going to try to possess him again.”

“I will! Where is he, anyway?”

“Still doing errands with Sir Meta Knight.”

“Like eating?” Kirby asked excitedly.

“Yeah, like eating. Would you like to come in?”

“Yes, please! We finished our picnic down by the lake!” Kirby said.

Bandanna Dee nodded and vanished from sight. Moments later, the gate into the castle was lifted. Gooey made an awed noise as they watched the metal bars rise up.

“Yeah, that’s pretty cool, huh?” Said Kirby as they both came in. Seconds later, Bandanna Dee came down and ran to them.

“Uh, hi, Gooey,” they said shyly.

Gooey made a noise of greeting, then squished them. Bandanna Dee squealed.

“Don’t worry, they do that for everyone!” Kirby exclaimed. To prove this point, Gooey affectionately squished Kirby, bringing a giggle out of their friend.

They laughed in turn.

Bandanna Dee relaxed. “I guess they are alright,” they said.

“Of course they are!” Kirby exclaimed.

Gooey squished Bandanna Dee again.

They laughed, too.

Gooey formed a happy expression.

They loved all their new friends!

“Ey, if it ain’t Kirby!”

“Hi, Dedede!” Kirby exclaimed. Gooey turned in the direction Kirby was looking at.

The person coming towards them wore a heavy red coat and a matching hat. Gooey wondered what he would feel like if they squished him.

“How ya doing?”

“I’m good! You wanna meet my new friend?” Kirby asked.

“Well, sure? Who are they?”

Gooey chirped, announcing their presence.

Dedede turned to look at them. “Hi, I’m King Dede-“

He stopped and started.

Gooey blinked their eye at him.

His face went pale.

“Uh, Kirby... that ain’t the...”

“Oh, no, no! They’re not the same person, I promise!”

“They sure _look_ it!” Dedede cried out, stumbling backwards.

“Gooey’s a perfectly safe person!” Kirby argued, reaching for Dedede. He jumped back.

“Kirby, I don’t know about you, but I ain’t getting possessed again!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down!” Bandanna Dee exclaimed.

“How do I know I can trust ‘em!?”

Gooey worried greatly. They didn’t want to scare him! Perhaps if they showed him how friendly they were...

They flew very close to him. The king shrieked.

They squished him, and he yelled even louder.

“Gooey!”

“Get ‘em _off_!” Dedede shouted, shoving Gooey away.

Oh no oh no oh no! They’d messed up! They messed up really bad!

Panicking, they flew outside the castle.

“Gooey!” Kirby shouted, racing after them.

Oh oh oh oh oh! They messed up! They scared Kirby’s friend!

Oh no! What ever will they do!?

They flew back down the mountain, scolding themselves harshly for making everything worse.


	6. Stolen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Absolutely nothing goes wrong and these two have a jolly good time :)

Kirby followed Gooey into an open field near where the Halberd was landed. He could hear the flapping of wings and Meta Knight calling Kirby’s name, no doubt to make him return to Dedede and explain himself (and Gooey). But he could worry about Dedede later. He was worried about Gooey now.

He needed to make sure they knew nothing was their fault. He needed to convince them to come back and try talking to Dedede again.

Gooey finally stopped, hitting the grass with noises of upset. Kirby raced to their side.

“Gooey. Listen.”

Gooey didn’t make a sound.

“Gooey.”

Gooey slowly lifted themselves off the grass.

“It’s not your fault Dedede was scared. You see, a monster who looked a lot like you attacked the Rainbow Islands. They tried to plunge the world into darkness, and they possessed King Dedede to do it.

“Rick, Kine, Coo and I went to the Rainbow Islands and found Rainbow Drops hidden throughout. These drops led to us creating the Rainbow Sword, which I used to defeat the monster. Everything returned to normal after.”

Gooey blinked their one eye at him.

“Dedede’s mostly recovered from the incident, but he’s still shaken up about it. I would be, too. He was just scared you might control him, but I know you won’t. And he’ll listen to you if you come back. I’m certain if we just have a talk, he’ll be your friend.”

Gooey chirped a noise of questioning.

“Of course he will!” Kirby exclaimed. “This is Dreamland, after all! Everyone here is a friend!”

Gooey’s eye went wide.

They chirruped another question.

“Of course you’re our friend, Gooey!” Kirby answered with a big, wide smile. “The animal friends really like you, and Meta Knight’s almost never as welcoming as he was with you. You said you wanted to stay on Popstar, so as far as we’re concerned, you’re a friend!”

Gooey stared and stared and stared. Then, they made the happiest noise Kirby had ever heard come from them. They flew to them and squished, hard, against him. Kirby laughed, wrapping his small arms around as much of Gooey as he could.

“I love you, Gooey!”

“Kirby!”

Kirby’s eyes went wide. Breaking the embrace, he stared at Gooey. Gooey’s own eye had widened, and slowly, they tried speaking again.

“Kirby!”

Kirby gasped. “Gooey! You can talk!”

“Gooey!”

Kirby squealed in delight.

“Kirby! Gooey!” Gooey exclaimed. “Kirby and Gooey!”

“Yes!”

“Gooey love Kirby!” Gooey exclaimed, squishing Kirby softly.

“I love you, too, Gooey!” Kirby cheered.

Gooey floated circles around Kirby, calling out their name and Kirby’s. Kirby continued to laugh and cheer for Gooey’s newfound ability to speak, realizing his words truly had rung true. He loved Gooey. They were his friend, perhaps even one of his best friends!

“Kirby!”

“Gooey!”

“Gooey love Kirby!”

“I love you, Gooey!”

They were so busy laughing and spinning around each other they didn’t even notice the shadows on the horizon, growing larger, growing more and more solid. Soon, the darkness was near looming above them, but they didn’t notice the shade speeding towards them.

Then, suddenly, the cloud was right above them.

They stopped and stared up at the sky.

Gooey squealed in fear.

Kirby gasped.

And the darkness struck.

Kirby grabbed Gooey and hugged his friend close as creatures identical to them separated from the cloud and dove towards the two friends. Within moments Kirby was blinded, and he and Gooey both shouted as the dark creatures struck at them, bits of dark magic shooting in all directions. Kirby continuously cried out as attacks struck his own body.

Suddenly, the whirlwind of darkness broke free and the monsters were flying up, leaving Kirby to lay prone on the ground.

“Owww...” He sat up.

He cried out.

Gooey was gone!

He looked up at the darkness. The creatures had all converged into one singular cloud, with no sign of Gooey within, but Kirby knew they must be in there. They were taking them away!

“Gooey!” Kirby screamed.

The creatures faded back into the cloud, but for a split second Kirby saw a creature that was white as the clouds, its red eye boring into his with pure hatred. Then all seams in the cloud closed, and the mass of darkness began to move away.

“GOOEY!”

Kirby sucked as much air into his body as he could, inflating his body, then he leaped into the air floated. He pumped his arms up and down as fast he could, chasing the cloud as it went higher and higher into the air.

The cloud was gaining speed, but Kirby was keeping up with them. He needed to rescue Gooey! He couldn’t let them get away!

Gooey!

“Kirby!” That was Meta Knight!

He could hear the flapping of Meta Knight’s wings as he chased after Kirby and the cloud, and Kirby sped up. He knew Meta Knight would try to stop him, and he couldn’t let that happen.

He needed to save Gooey!

The dark creatures suddenly seemed to realize Kirby was following them. A few of the creatures broke free of the cloud and turned hateful gazes at him.

Kirby kept floating higher and higher.

Bolts of lightning struck him hard and swift.

Kirby fought to keep air inside of him, to stay floating in the air. He fought through the pain, because Gooey was still in there. He couldn’t stop until Gooey was safe.

They kept attacking. Kirby kept pushing, pushing, pushing-

Stars! It hurt!

He couldn’t keep going anymore. He let out the air in a gasp.

Within seconds, he was plummeting from the sky.

“Gooey!” He wailed.

He tried to draw in more air-

Only to land in the arms of Meta Knight.

“Kirby! Are you okay!?”

“Gooey! Gooey!” Kirby cried.

“We can’t go after them, Kirby! It’s too dangerous!”

“No!”

“I’m taking you back.”

“Goooooeeeeyyy!”

Meta Knight held Kirby tightly against him as he turned around flew back down to the castle.

Kirby burst into tears, and was sobbing as he was carried back to the castle.

❧

Gooey was immediately restrained by other Dark Matter, much to their upset. They fought the restraints of their fellow creations, yet nobody answered their cries for release.

“Kirby! Kirby! Kirby!”

Zero gave them a horrible look that silenced them. Unable to fight back, Gooey silently cried as they were stolen away from the place they’d been so ready to call their home.

Already, their heart was breaking for the friends they thought they would never again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied and I’m sorry


	7. Separated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Though Gooey has been taken, Kirby and his friends are full of hope for their return.

Kirby was near inconsolable the rest of the afternoon. With the storm having passed, Kirby’s animal friends followed Meta Knight’s frantic flight back to the castle, where they found him frantic, crying about how they needed to rescue Gooey before something terrible happened to them.

But no matter how much Kirby cried, the others insisted it was too dangerous. He argued and argued, but all he got in reply were tomatoes to heal his stinging wounds.

He thought of how much Gooey had loved tomatoes, and he started crying again.

Finally, after a good while of everyone working to comfort him, he finally stopped crying. However, he was now exhausted, and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting inside the castle, numbly mouthing at the ice-cream he had been handed earlier.

“Geez, Kirby, you’re never not hungry,” Dedede commented.

“Mmmm...”

“We really are sorry about Gooey,” Meta Knight said.

“Mmmm...”

“They really weren’t that bad, were they?” Dedede asked.

Kirby nodded.

“I could tell. I was real scared of ‘em, but they were real friendly, like you are.”

Kirby mouthed at his ice-cream.

“I don’t believe Gooey is anything like the monster from the Rainbow Islands. But... if they have truly been received by their own kind, then perhaps we should be glad they didn’t attack us further,” sighed Meta Knight.

Kirby frowned. “But... Gooey...”

“Kirby,” Meta Knight said, patting his shoulders, “Gooey should be fine. But I truly do wish we could have saved them, if the rest of their kind is like the monster from the Islands.”

Dedede shuddered. “Stars, I can’t believe there are more of ‘em... thought we were done with ‘em when that one was defeated before.”

“I could’ve saved them,” Kirby muttered.

“Kirby, you had no copy abilities, and no Rainbow Sword,” Meta Knight pointed out. “You did the best you could.”

Kirby finally shoved the rest of the ice-cream into his mouth and swallowed.

“Do ya think they’ll come back?” Dedede asked.

Kirby’s eyes widened and he gazed at him with desperate hope. He flinched back.

“Perhaps,” said Meta Knight.

“They’ve gotta come back,” said Kirby. “Even if the other monsters come back, we’ll be ready for them. If... if they do come back.”

“You’re sure the Rainbow Sword will be enough for... multiples of ‘em?”

“Not to mention the time it will take to form it again...”

Kirby sank into his chair.

“Oh, cheer up, Kirby! I’m sure that Gooey’ll come back! I mean, they got here before, didn’t they?”

Kirby nodded. Dedede patted Kirby on the shoulder.

“Then don’t give up on hopin’! I’m sure everything’ll be okay!”

Kirby sighed and nodded.

❧

The sun was setting as Meta Knight flew Kirby home, the Halberd much quieter than it had been this morning.

“I’m very sorry about Gooey,” murmured Sailor Dee as Kirby stared out the window, watching the sky for any sign of his friend.

He nodded in reply. He still felt numb.

What if Gooey was being hurt? What if they were in danger? What if they didn’t know their way back?

He sighed. He couldn’t give up on hoping, like Dedede had said. Gooey could come back, he knew they could. Perhaps they were fighting to escape their captors right now.

Or maybe they didn’t want to come back...

No. They had wanted to stay. Kirby knew that, and he believed wholeheartedly that Gooey wouldn’t lie. So he would wait, and he would hope.

And hopefully, Gooey would return.

He gave a forlorn look at the crater where Gooey had landed this morning. Had it really only been a single day since they’d met? It felt like Kirby had known Gooey forever.

“Oi, Kirby!”

He turned to see his animal friends all coming off the Halberd. They’d agreed to come, too, wanting to stick together after the sudden loss of Gooey.

It seemed like everyone was feeling the loss, even though Gooey’s time here had been so brief. They’d really influenced everyone they’d met.

It made Kirby even sadder.

“So that’s where he landed, huh?” Asked Pitch.

Kirby nodded. “Fell right out of the sky.”

“I’m surprised Kracko came so close to your house. He usually tries to avoid you when he isn’t trying to kill you,” Coo commented

Kirby shrugged.

“I don’t like the fishbowl,” Kine grumbled inside the fishbowl.

“Well, do ya see a lake?” Nago asked.

Kine continued to grumble.

Kirby frowned in thought.

“What’s up, Kirby?” ChuChu asked.

“One second.”

Kirby ran inside his house and started digging around all the stuff he put in his basement. Finally, he found it-a light-up replica of the Star Rod.

He ran back outside, still holding the rod, and pushed the button on its side to make the star on top begin to glow.

“Goodness, that’s bright!” Coo exclaimed.

“No kidding!” Agreed Nago.

Kirby planted the glowing rod into the dirt right by his house. “There. That way, if Gooey ever comes back, they’ll notice it!”

“What if it’s day?” Asked Kine.

Kirby shrugged. “Just wanted to put something for Gooey to find.”

“What about batteries?” ChuChu asked.

“They last for weeks at a time!” Kirby explained. “Meta Knight gave them to me a while back, and I got the replica from this cool store!”

“Cool!”

“Are we gonna hang out tonight or what?” Nago asked. “The sun’s setting.”

“Yeah, sure is. C’mon, everybody! Let’s go inside!” Rick exclaimed, leading the friends into the house.

Kirby promised himself that he would find Gooey again, and show them his house, too.

❧

The star rod replica outside the house glowed brightly as the sun set and the sky filled with stars. Inside, Kirby and his friends were doing what they always did-playing games, eating food, and having a general good time.

“You’ve gotta show Gooey around your house when they come back!” Exclaimed ChuChu. “I’m sure they’ll love the place!”

“Me too!” Agreed Pitch.

“That’s if they _do_ come back,” muttered Coo.

“Oh, come on, Coo,” said Rick. “Don’t be a buzzard.”

“I am an owl, not a buzzard.”

“You know what he means!” Exclaimed Nago.

“Now, now,” said Kine, still in his bowl.

“I’m sure they’ll come back,” said Kirby. “I just wish we could go after them.”

“They thrive on the dark, no doubt,” said Coo. “They’d probably be impossible to find if they didn’t wish to be found.”

“Man, what if they _are_ the same people as that monster who attacked Popstar?” Asked Nago. “You think they’ll attack us?”

“I sure hope not!” Worried ChuChu.

“Kirby could just defeat them, though,” suggested Pitch.

“Thanks, Pitch,” said Kirby. “Maybe I could beat them.”

“Should we try to make the Rainbow Sword again?” Suggested Kine. “It worked pretty well against the one.”

“But what if their leader is more powerful than the one monster?” Asked ChuChu. “What did it look like again, Kirby?”

“It was white,” he said. “With one big red eye!”

“Eep!”

“That’s scary!” Exclaimed Nago.

ChuChu jumped onto Kirby’s bed and buried herself under the covers.

“ChuChu! Get outta there!” Pitch exclaimed.

“I’m afraid!”

“We’re _fine_ , we’ve dealt with worse!” Replied Rick.

“Like what?”

“Remember when Dedede broke the Star Rod?” Kirby asked.

“I do!” Pitch exclaimed. “That was _long_ before I met you guys. I only knew Nago back then.”

“I didn’t really care about the lack of dreams, I just wanted to sleep,” said Nago.

“Goodness, what was I even _doing_ back then? I never been realized anything was happening until I suddenly started having dreams again,” said Kine.

“I really missed being able to dream,” complained ChuChu, peeking her head out from beneath the blankets.

“I beat Nightmare with the Star Rod,” said Kirby.

“There’s so many cool magic stuffs out there,” said Nago. “The Star Rod, the Rainbow Sword... I bet there’s even more we’ve never heard of.”

“Yeah!”

“Do you think those dark creatures will return?” Asked Coo. “I’m certain Gooey will certainly try to make it back, but... what of their fellow creatures of the dark? Why didn’t they destroy us when they came for Gooey?”

“Maybe they just wanted Gooey,” suggested Rick.

“Maybe they didn’t want to go through the trouble,” said Pitch.

“Yeah, if they knew about Kirby beating the one guy, then I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to avoid us,” said Kine.

“I wanna nap,” said Nago. “All those memories of naps made me sleepy.”

“Wake up, lazy!” Pitch shouted, pecking Nago on the head.

“Ow!”

Everyone laughed.

“Man, y’all are mean,” complained Nago.

“Well, we aren’t sleepy,” said ChuChu.

“Wowie!” Exclaimed Kine.

“What?”

“They sky’s looking real pretty tonight!” Kine pointed a fin towards the window, where the starry sky could be beheld in all its brilliance.

Kirby and the others all got up to stare out the window.

“Wow, it really is looking pretty, tonight,” said ChuChu.

“It’s so big!” Pitch exclaimed.

“I can’t imagine ever going into space,” said Nago. “Popstar’s just fine for me.”

“You’ve been to space, right, Kirby?” Asked Coo.

Kirby nodded. “It was back when the sun and moon were fighting,” he said, frowning as he remembered what had happened. The friend he’d made, the friend who’d betrayed him...

“Marx sucked,” deadpanned Rick.

“Rick!” ChuChu exclaimed. “He wasn’t _that_ bad!”

“He tried to take over Popstar!”

“He failed!”

“Still!”

“Hey! I can’t see! Move my bowl!” Shouted Kine from behind them, frantically swimming in circles, threatening to splash water on the floor.

Coo began pushing the bowl towards the window.

“Did you guys know I saw a giant, wish-granting comet?” Kirby asked.

“I mean, you did mention it,” said Nago as everyone turned their eyes back to the stars above.

“His name was Galactic Nova, and he was _huge_!” Kirby exclaimed, spreading his arms wide. “And he could grant everyone’s wishes!”

“Didn’t Meta Knight want to find Nova?” Asked Kine, who could see the sky, now.

Kirby nodded. “He did leave to see if he could for a while, and when he came back, all he’d tell me was that he got what he wanted from Nova. After that, we started bonding more!”

“Is that how you went from crashing his ship to riding in it?” Asked Rick. “I was wondering how that happened.”

Kirby laughed. “Yeah. Also, I said I was really sorry.”

“He forgave you, right?” Asked ChuChu.

“Yep.”

“What happened to Nova?” Asked Pitch.

“He was damaged,” said Kirby. “I had to go inside and break a lot of stuff to make him stop. Then, when I beat Marx, he flew right into Nova and he exploded!”

“Marx or Nova?”

“Both, I guess. I never did find Marx’s body.”

Perhaps he was still alive, Kirby mused. He couldn’t help but hope so.

He also hoped that Gooey was out there, trying to come back. That they hadn’t already given up on their friends.

“...You think Gooey’s looking at the stars, too?” Kine asked.

“Maybe,” mumbled Coo.

“I’m sure they are,” said Kirby. “I bet they’re trying to get back to us.”

“Me too!” Exclaimed ChuChu.

“When they come back, we’re gonna have a big party to welcome them to Popstar for real!” Rick declared.

Everyone cheered in agreement.

“We should have a lot of tomatoes!” Kirby exclaimed. “Gooey loves those!”

“I could tell!” Pitch said.

“We’ve gotta plan this party!” Rick exclaimed.

“We don’t know when they’ll be back, though,” Nago said.

“Or _if_ they’ll be back,” pointed out Coo.

“Don’t be pessimistic!” Scolded ChuChu. “Of course they’ll be back!”

“And when they do, we’ll have the biggest party in Dreamland!” Cheered Kine.

Everyone cheered, and discussion about the return party for Gooey began in full swing. Kirby went to join the discussion, but stopped and turned to look back up at the sky.

“I know you’re out there, Gooey,” he mumbled. “Come back soon.”

He knew Gooey would come back. He believed it, deep down in his heart.

With hope blooming large in his chest, he began to help his friends plan their return party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently Kirby Super Star happened before Kirby’s Dreamland 3 and its messing me up and made me do a 180 writing this chapter.


	8. Gooey’s Miraculous Transformation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gooey didn’t want to be a Dark Matter anymore. They wanted to be Gooey.

Meanwhile, in the shadowy lair known as the Hyper Zone, Gooey had stopped crying.

Not because they were scared, or because they had given up. No, it was because they now stubbornly refused to do _anything_.

Gooey was being defiant, and it was clearly making their dark creator frustrated.

The Dark Matter around them clung to corners and shadows as they watched their pale creator confront the angry and defiant Gooey. They remained planted in one place in the middle of the black chamber, with Zero hovering in circles around them.

“What is it with you?” He demanded of them. “You were made to devour the light. You were made to care for nothing and no one except your own. So why do you insist on abandoning us for what we hate most?”

Gooey said nothing.

“Do you not hunger for the light? Do you not wish to see it all be destroyed?”

At the word hunger, Gooey removed their gaze from the floor.

“Tomatoes!” They yelled. “Gooey want tomatoes!”

“And your language is atrocious, by the way. You’ll have to start learning, now that you’ve finally decided to talk.”

“Tomatoes!”

“Will you quit demanding I get you mortal food?” Zero complained. “The Dark Matter aren’t even supposed to consume food like that. You are supposed to get your nutrients elsewhere.”

“Gooey want Kirby! Kirby is friend!” Gooey yelled.

“And enough about friends!” Zero complained. “I could easily send you back to the darkness I brought you from, do you understand?”

Not really, but Gooey wasn’t going to let him know that. They knew it wouldn’t be smart to attack their creator-he had had his creations destroyed before. But they were also convinced of this: cold as their creator may be, Zero would not take their life.

After all, he’d gone to all the trouble of getting them, a replaceable unit, off of Popstar.

Ah, Popstar! That was the place they truly belonged! Not here, in this cold and horrible Hyper Zone!

“We destroy worlds,” Zero continued when Gooey didn’t continue. “We do not bond with their peoples and claim random planets as our new homes. We come, we devour, and we leave no trace.”

“Gooey want Popstar!”

“And why do you insist on calling yourself that!?”

“Gooey is Gooey!” Gooey exclaimed.

Zero growled in frustration. “I should have destroyed that place after all...” he murmured to himself.

“Gooey want be like Kirby!” Gooey shouted.

“And whatever does that mean?”

“Gooey want be with Kirby!” They replied. “Gooey is Gooey!”

Zero’s eye narrowed. “What does that _mean_?” He said, slower this time.

It meant... Gooey didn’t fully know what it meant. It meant that Gooey wasn’t like the other Dark Matter. They weren’t cold, or cruel, and they didn’t hunger for light and all things good. No, Gooey loved those things, and they hated what their fellow creations represented.

It meant that Gooey was _Gooey_. And nothing more, and nothing less.

They were Kirby’s friend.

And they wanted to be with them!

“Gooey... is Gooey!”

“What does that _mean_!?”

“Gooey not Dark Matter! Gooey is Gooey!”

Zero’s eye widened. As did the eyes of the other Dark Matter. They all gaped at Gooey as their bold declaration rang across the chamber.

“Nonsense,” Zero snapped. “You _are_ a Dark Matter. You are my creation, and-”

Zero went silent. They all went silent.

Gooey, glaring at their creator, at their fellow creations, dug deep, deep inside themselves. And what they found was a light. A small light, but... it grew inside of them, and they shut their eye tight and scrunched their entire body in concentration.

The room was filled with nothing but Gooey’s loud grunts.

What they wanted was to be like Kirby. What they wanted was to be... Gooey, without having to scare people because they looked like a monster. They wanted to be friendly, and kind.

And they couldn’t do that if they were one of the Dark Matter. Not when their appearance reminded everyone of something evil.

Gooey was Gooey. And they would not be anything else.

The Dark Matter around them shouted.

Gooey’s black body was turning... blue.

The Dark Matters’ shouts escalated, but Gooey drowned out the noise. They scrunched their body and they grunted loud and hard as they dug deep, deep inside themselves, searching for that light. The light that Kirby had awakened within them. Perhaps even the light that Kirby had _placed_ in them.

With a shout, Gooey released all the tension in their body, and the Dark Matter around them cried out in shock, the creations scattering deeper into the shadows as Zero froze in place.

Gooey’s eye had split. Now instead of the one, they had two, big black eyes. And a seam was opening in their skin! Which was now blue!

“What’s happening?” Zero murmured. The Dark Matter peered from their hiding places.

“Gooey is like Kirby!” They cheered, marveling at their transforming body. “Gooey is Gooey!”

“This is... This is impossible!” Zero shouted.

“Gooey go to Kirby!” Gooey declared, continuing their change.

Zero’s eye widened. Gooey did not know that this was the first time in his life that Zero had ever experienced panic.

Their creator lunged for them.

“Stop this!” He roared, darkness bursting from his body and slamming into Gooey.

They shouted out in pain. The seam in their body had become a mouth, and it was wide open as they yelled.

“Gooey go see Kirby!” They yelled in determination, marveling at the feel of their lips touching, the way their mouth moved to create sound. And... was that a tongue!

“Stop changing!” Zero roared, smashing more and more clouds of darkness onto them. Gooey was caught up in the whirlwind of shadow, and they dug deep into that light again to try to fight it, to continue the change that was slowly being stopped. They could feel the darkness trying to get back in-the darkness that light inside them was purging.

“Gooey go see Kirby! Gooey go see Kirby!”

“ENOUGH!” Zero exploded.

The darkness smashed into Gooey from all sides. They screamed for help, but no one came. They tried and tried to keep changing, to keep becoming like Kirby-

But they could not fight it for long. The darkness seeped into every part of them, dousing that bright light inside of them.

The pain of reverting back into a Dark Matter was too much for them, and they lost consciousness.

❧

Zero let out a heavy sigh as the cloud of darkness dispersed, revealing a Dark Matter. The creation fell to the ground and lay there on the chamber floor, hardly moving.

He didn’t understand what had happened, or why. How had they been able to... change themselves like that? No other creation had the ability. And no one would have dared...

He needed help, he realized. Needed help from someone else.

He closed his eye and sighed again.

He hated having to explain things. He always got scolded.

“My creations.”

The Dark Matter who had acted as his audience all removed themselves from their hiding places, inching towards their creator.

“I will be leaving for a while,” he said. “I will need assistance to take care of this... problem and make sure this one isn’t a lost cause.”

A shadowy cloud surrounded the unconscious Dark Matter.

“Make sure they don’t try anything until my return,” he ordered.

His creations nodded, warily surrounding the dome of darkness containing their rogue sibling.

So loyal, he mused as he turned his back on them. They will all make wonderful soldiers of darkness.

Then he remembered what he was setting out to do and sighed again. He’d been hoping to avoid this, but apparently, he no longer could. But he could take a scolding.

All he needed to do was make sure that Dark Matter couldn’t pull a stunt like that again. It wouldn’t be that hard, would it?

 _Unless it’s harder than anything I’ve ever encountered,_ he worried as he exited the Hyper Zone and flew deep into the shadows of space.

It was time to find 02.


End file.
